Past and Present
by Dawn Bently
Summary: As Draco learns of his son's engagement, he deals with the bitter truth of his own life. Draco/Ginny, Draco/Astoria, Scorpius/Rose


**Please, Please, Please Review!**

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He could hardly say he was pleased with the way his life worked out. It wasn't perfect, but it was not unbearable either. He never expected it to be perfect, but had he the chance to go back and do it over again, he was certain he'd have said different things or perhaps said nothing at all in those crucial moments that lead up to where his life was now. He had once loved that woman, and part of him truly believed she had loved him too for that brief moment they were locked in each other's embrace. In the end it didn't really matter. He'd found someone new and so had she. Or at least she found someone else. He wasn't really new, and he was possibly the only man Draco Malfoy preferred her not to be with, but he knew it wasn't his place to decide that for her. Instead, Draco married Astoria, a cute girl he remembered from years ago, while Ginny Weasley soon became Ginny Potter.

Then, eleven years later, he saw them once more as they sent their dear son off to Hogwarts the same year his son had left. As the memory played in his mind, Draco could not help but smile at the slight irony of the entire situation now laid out before him. That day he had been excited for his son, but in the back of his mind he was paying special attention to Albus Potter. It'd been years since he thought of Ginny Weasley, but seeing her son, the son she had with another man, was harder than he thought it would be.

Of course he noticed Ron and Hermione Weasley at the train station as well, but he half expected that. They'd been in love for years and had they not had a daughter themselves, they'd have been there for the Potter child. Other than some side thought, Draco paid them no attention. Now, however, as his son and his girlfriend sat before him, Draco could not help but think back to when little Rosie Weasley had been only eleven years old and dressed in her school robes much earlier than what was called for.

"Are you going to say anything?" Scorpius finally asked as he reached over to take Rose's hand who was glancing around the room nervously as though Draco's distant staring had made her even more nervous than she already was.

"I'm just thinking." Draco responded with narrow eyes as he ran his hand through his graying hair.

"Well, you're acting weird." Scorpius answered, his own silver eyes narrowing as he stared at his father. "You can at least pretend to be happy, you know?"

"I never said I wasn't happy." Draco defended himself as he stared down at his son, the corner of his eye watching the diamond ring sitting upon Rose's left ring finger. "I was only wondering why you never told me you dating her at all." He explained as he walked towards the small bar in the corner of the room. He'd started to pour himself a drink, but stopped when Scorpius stood and started to near him.

"Because you would've been as mad then as you are now." He answered, while Rose casted her eyes downward as she started to nibble on her bottom lip. Draco's eyes narrowed once more as he stared at Rose's nervous habit, and he couldn't help but notice that Ginny had done the same thing some odd thirty years ago.

"I'm not mad," Draco answered, his eyes still on the red headed beauty. "You can't help who you love, despite what your mother and grandfather insist is true on the matter." Draco finally pulled his eyes off the girl and focused on pouring a drink, which he immediately drank. "Have you told your parents yet, Rose?" He asked curiously, ignoring the odd look on his son's face at the words that just passed his father's lips.

"Um…" Rose stared up at Draco, the same confusion across her eyes but she soon collected herself. Draco couldn't help but see too much of her mother in the girl as well. "I told my mother."

Draco laughed as he took another drink. "I can't imagine your father taking the news well."

"Do you know them?" Scorpius questioned as he slowly made his way back to his fiancé.

"We went to school together." Draco answered vaguely. "And we moved in the same circles for a few years during the second war and for a while after. Your father was not very fond of me then. Your mother was more accepting, and so was…" Draco started but his voice trailed as he let the memories play before he said her name. "So was Ginerva."

"What about Harry?"

Draco laughed at Rose's question. "Harry Potter was something else entirely back then," Draco smiled as he neared the couple and sat across from them. "I think he secretly hated me. Your father openly hated me."

"They have a picture of you." Rose spoke confidently, much like Hermione would have in any situation.

"Who?"

"Ginny and Harry."

Only Ginny does, Draco's bitter thoughts stung him but his smile didn't falter.

"It's in a photo album from the war and after it. There's one of you in the Order Headquarters."

"The Order?" Scorpius questioned but Draco shook his head as he peered down at his hands.

"That was ages ago," Draco explained, but hardly explained it at all. He knew all too well the story Astoria and his father had taught the boy, and he knew the truth even better. "Someday I'll tell you what really happened then. Hopefully by then your grandfather will be dead." Draco said in a voice he knew was too cheery for the subject, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he took another drink.

For a moment, he looked upon his son and couldn't help but wonder how things might've been different had he been raised without the influences of his mother and grandfather. Draco was sure his son felt the same way about their ideals as he did, but was afraid of admitting so. After Draco had heard which house his son had been sorted into, Draco nearly convinced himself of his son's opinions about what his mother and grandfather believed so wholeheartedly in. Though they had been none too pleased, Draco found it humorous that his son had been the first ever Malfoy not to be sorted into Slytherin. Draco, however, found it entirely hilarious that his son had been the first ever Malfoy to be sorted into Gryffindor.

As Draco found his thoughts wandering once more, he snapped back to his son and the beauty girl he'd fallen in love with, but only to be met by his son's strange look and Rose's awkward glance. "Um…" Rose started as she gripped Scorpius' hand a bit tighter. "Tomorrow, my family is having a dinner at my aunt and uncle's house, and you're welcome to come, if you'd like."

"I'd love to." Draco answered with a smile his son was surprised to see. "Which uncle? You have several."

"Actually, it's going to be at Aunt Ginny's and Uncle Harry's."

Draco cleared his throat as he eyed his empty glass. "That uncle." He muttered as he drew in a deep breath.

"Why does he not like me?" Scorpius asked, his eyes narrowed and curious as he sensed the same dislike in his father for Harry Potter.

"I haven't the slightest idea, actually." Draco answered honestly. "He should like you. For several reasons. I'm the one he should hate."

"Then why should he like me?" Scorpius pressed and Draco let out a soft laugh as he stared at the twenty year old man sitting before him.

"Well, for one, you're a Gryffindor. You're all very proud of that. It's some sort of exclusive club with inside jokes and whatnot."

"Actually, Gryffindors are friends with pretty much anybody, except-" Rose started but stopped as she started to nibble on her bottom lip once more, her eyes going wide in fear as the aging Slytherin stared down at her with narrowed eyes but they were amused.

Draco laughed as he guessed the rest of the sentence she didn't dare say aloud. "I guess Slytherin was the exclusive club then." He noted as he leaned back in his chair, rather enjoying himself with Scorpius and Rose. He'd always known that one day his son would find some dashing girl he wanted, and part of Draco desperately wished it was not the perfect match his wife or father picked for the boy. More than anything, Draco wanted Scorpius to marry the girl he wanted and live the life Draco wished he had.

"Tomorrow night, you said?" Draco asked when Rose looked to Scorpius, obviously running out of things to say.

"Yes. Around seven." Rose explained. "I can give you the address."

"I know where it is." Draco answered as another memory played in the back of his mind. This memory, however, he fought hard to ignore as he forced his attention to stay on the young couple before him. It was hard for him, though, not to pay attention to Ginny's young face as she stared up at him, her fiery hair pulled back messily.

"Why did you come here, Draco?" She asked softly, one hand on the edge of the front door. Her other arm was wrapped around her middle, holding her robe shut so the cold air could not taint her heat. As he stood outside the big house, Draco stared down at Ginny, his eyes following the imprint on her cheek left from her pillow. He knew she'd just waken, and the smell of coffee was finding him from the kitchen and through the living room.

"I wanted to tell you that I'm engaged." Draco said the words heavily as his eyes followed her left arm until he rested on the big diamond ring Harry Potter had presented her with some year ago. "To Astoria. She went to Hogwarts a year behind you."

"I don't remember her."

"I didn't either." Draco admitted and Ginny let herself laugh at the omission.

"I'm happy for you."

"I'm not." Draco replied.

"And why is that, Drake?" Ginny let the name slip before she could stop herself and saw the flash in his eyes that he could not stop either.

"She has black hair, and blue eyes, and she's too tall, and her voice is too high and she's not you." Draco gave his lists of reasons but both knew only the last meant anything. Silence fell around them as Ginny chewed her bottom lip, her eyes still glued to Draco.

"It gets easier," Ginny told him with a slight smile on her lips. "I felt the same way, once. I thought it was going to be miserable. I thought I was going to be miserable for the rest of my life, but it's not as hard as it looks, Drake." Ginny called him by his favorite nickname just once more, loving the way it felt on her lips.

"I just wanted to see you once more." Draco finally said as he drew in a deep breath. "Before it was too late."

"Draco, too late came and went a year ago."

"I meant too late for me." Draco laughed and Ginny laughed with him. For a moment, they simply looked into each other eyes, remembering what had once been, neither daring to let words ruin their last moment. Finally, once the silence became too much, Draco spoke again. "You should expect an owl."

"Why?"

"I invited you and Potter to the wedding." Draco answered. "Just for giggles." He explained after Ginny's face had dropped. "I don't actually want you to be there when I-"

"Get married to another woman?"

"Yeah." Draco answered. "It seems those words are more easily heard than said."

"I know the feeling."

Draco shut his eyes as willed the memory to fade like all the others, but it, of course, had been one of the ones that remained rather vivid in his mind. He felt as though every sweet moment he'd ever had with Ginny had faded to black and white while every moment he faked happiness with Astoria had remained in full color.

"Could you stop zoning out for one entire conversation?" Scorpius pleaded as he stared at Draco with a look on his face Draco recognized. It was the look Astoria had given him after all the times Draco insisted they let Scorpius leave for Hogwarts without explaining the importance of being sorted in Slytherin. Draco had, of course, won the battle then lost the war when Scorpius' Gryffindor sorting had his mother and grandfather angrier than Voldermort himself.

"I'm sorry, son." Draco replied. "I'm just tired. And I have a meeting tomorrow with your mother and her lawyers."

"And you think having a hangover will make that situation run more smoothly?" Scorpius questioned as he reached out to take the glass from his father's fingers.

"No, but it'll make me dread it less."Draco answered. "I'm going to go to bed. You're free to stay if you'd like, Rose, and it was a pleasure to meet you." He told her as he smiled at her.

"You too, Mr. Malfoy." Rose answered in an overly polite tone as Draco started to turn away from her and make his way towards the staircase.

**X**

"You don't have to come, you know." Scorpius said again, for the fiftieth time, according to Draco, who had lost the actual count after his son's tenth insistence that Draco not go to Rose's family dinner. Now that the father-son duo stood on the doorstep of the Potter household, however, Draco rolled his eyes as he reached out to knock on the door. He did his best to push the memory of the last time he'd stood on that porch to the back of his mind, and was quite successful as Hermione opened the door.

"Draco," Hermione smiled at him rather widely, though he knew some of her happiness was due to her daughter's engagement. Draco, however, accepted her hug with open arms while Scorpius eyed the two cautiously. "I'm glad you came. Where's Astoria?"

"I don't know." Draco answered.

"Iis she well?" Hermione replied.

"I don't care." Draco shrugged as Scorpius rolled his eyes and slipped past Rose's mother in search of his beloved. Hermione only laughed as she closed the door behind Draco and lead him into the home.

"How long have you been separated?"

"Going on seven months." Draco answered as he followed her to the main room where the majority of the Weasley-Potter family was located. Draco instantly spotted Scorpius with Rose as they escaped down one of the hallways while Draco had attracted the attention of her family, thus serving as their distraction.

"Malfoy." Harry let the name slip of his tongue rather easily as he held out a hand, a forced smile across his lips. Draco shook his hand easily, then halted when Ron rose to his feet and neared him.

"Malfoy." Ron's voice was obviously less smooth than Harry's but Draco nodded to him all the same before Hermione pulled him to the side, removing Draco from Ron's deadly stare for the moment.

"He hasn't adjusted yet." Hermione whispered to Draco and the two shared a laugh before they sat with Molly Weasley, a kind woman Draco remembered well.

"Draco Malfoy." Molly's voice was soft as she looked up at the man. Draco knelt down in front of her, a soft sincere smile across his thin lips. Molly's small wrinkled hands reached out and gently brushed Draco's cheek before she leaned forward to speak to him, her voice soft and broken with age. "You're still as handsome as ever." She managed a soft chuckle as she beamed at Draco.

"Thank you, Molly." Draco answered gently.

"You know, there was a time that I was sure the father of my grandchildren would be you." Molly spoke the words Draco had not wanted to hear, but Draco held the aging woman so dear to his heart, he smiled at her gently as he ignored the pain in his chest. "But that son of yours." She laughed again, "He looks just like you did then, Draco, I swear. That pair there, they look like you and my Ginny."

"Mum," Ginny's stern voice tore Molly's gaze away from Draco, but he couldn't turn back just yet.

"Sorry, dear." Molly answered softly before she turned her attention to Draco once more. "I always adored you, Draco. Well, maybe not always, but after some time, I took to you."

"Yes, you did," Draco laughed as he rose to his feet once more. "You look absolutely lovely, tonight, Molly." Draco told her as he lifted her hand and gently placed a kiss on the back.

"You were always so charming, weren't you?" Molly asked as Draco set her hand back down. "Is that how young Scorpius won over my darling Rose?"

"I can't say." Draco answered. "I hadn't even known they were together until yesterday."

"The nerve of that boy." Molly tried to sound mad, but she had started to cough. Draco could hear footsteps start to near them, but they stopped when Draco reached to the side table to pour Molly a glass of water. "Thank you, Draco." She said as she took the glass from his hand and took a sip.

"Of course, Molly." Draco replied as he finally turned back to see Ginny staring at him, her face indifferent, but her eyes flashing with emotions.

"Dinner will be ready soon." Ginny told him and he nodded as he held the stare.

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I think we've got it handled, Draco." Ginny replied as she turned to the other children seated about the room. Draco headed towards the kitchen anyway, to find Hermione as she set plates around the dining table in the room adjacent to the kitchen. Draco had started to help her when she looked up at him, a knowing smile on her lips.

"He's a lot like you, you know."

"Rose is just like you." Draco answered.

"It's funny," Hermione laughed as they finished setting plates and moved on to silverware. She paused as she peered up at Draco, who continued anyway.

"What is?"

"You're son," She answered. "It's just that… nobody expected anything like this, you know? And Ron nearly flipped when Rose told us, but he's failed to realize that not only is Scorpius not you, but you're not your father either. I think it's rather safe to say that the Malfoy name has effectively lost its reputation. Especially, with Scorpius in Gryffindor."

"I've done my best." Draco answered and Hermione laughed once more.

"They're cute together."

"Yeah," Draco nodded softly.

"Has he told Astoria yet?" Hermione asked.

"I told her today." Draco answered as he stopped and look up across the table at Hermione. "It was somewhere between her taking my summer house and telling me I was an incompetent husband." Draco said rather light heartedly but Hermione's face was filled with sadness.

"How did she take it?"

"She all but disowned him as her son." Draco groaned as he let the remaining fork in his hand hit the table harder than necessary. He then ran a hand through his hair as he scoffed and shook his head at the nerve of his soon-to-be ex-wife. "I'm not even going to tell my father. He's going to die anyway. I don't know why he insists on talking to me or to Scorpius. It only ends in arguments. He constantly insists that the world is backwards and that Scorpius has learned all the wrong morals. And then he started to use quite a few terms which lead to Scorpius rather forcefully threatening him with his wand."

"He said something about Muggle borns, didn't he?" Hermione asked and Draco shook his head as he shrugged.

"I wasn't there." Draco explained, "But that seemed most fitting. Scorpius has always had this deep resentment for those type of slurs and I never understood why. I was careful not to teach him that, and then I walk down the stairs and find your daughter there with him." Draco laughed as he finished setting the silverware. "I guess that explains that. It's kind of sweet, though, now that I think about it."

"What is?" Hermione asked.

"That he defends you."

"I think they were afraid, Draco. They way they act, and they way they were after they told everyone, it seems as though they've been together a lot longer than they admit." Hermione said and Draco agreed with a nod.

"I know. I saw it too. He thought I was mad when he told me."

"Half the world is expecting you to be mad." Hermione laughed but Draco shook his head.

"I let the woman I loved get away, and I don't want him to have the life I had." Draco answered and Hermione nodded in understanding.

"She didn't really get away, though, Draco."

"I know." Draco nodded as he turned away from Hermione when they started to walk towards the kitchen for the food. "But in the end, it doesn't really seem to matter as much how it came to be. All that really matters is that when it came down to it, she wasn't the one with me, even though she was the one I wanted there."

"Did you tell Scorpius that?" Hermione asked. "It might make him understand better."

"No," Draco shook his head as he helped Hermione carry dishes to the table. "Astoria and my father have told him stories of the war so many times that if I tell him the truth he'll know they lied to him. And with the way things are now with his mother, I don't want him to think she doesn't care, even as it increasingly starts to look that way. If he knew about Ginny and I, and the Order, and my part in the war, then he'll know the discrepancies in the stories he was told all his life."

"I still think he's a little concerned about you and how you've taken the news." Hermione answered and Draco shrugged.

"Eventually, he'll catch on. He usually does."

Hermione glanced up at Draco as he finished setting the food in the center of the table and as he finished he turned towards her as well. "None of us took it easily, you know." Hermione told him, but her voice sounded different. Draco narrowed his eyes in confusion as he took a step closer to her so he could hear better as she spoke in a softer voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"We had all accepted that you and Ginny would be together." Hermione answered. "And then all of a sudden everything changed and none of us took it easily. I know Ron and Harry aren't the most…"

"Friendly?" Draco offered and Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, but Ron knew the truth and he understood. If everything had worked out the way we thought it would've, he would've been supportive all the same. He acts like he cares, but when it come down to it, all he wanted was for his sister to be happy, and to be protected, and you did both of those things just as well as Harry. Or at least Harry did them as well as you."

"That was a different lifetime, Hermione." Draco replied as he stepped back turned to the table. He started to rearrange the dishes, but Hermione knew it was just to keep himself busy. "None of that matters anymore."

Hermione smiled softly as she watched Draco, knowing that it did matter but not wanting to make matters worse. Hermione knew, just as well as Draco that some things were best left in the past.

"I'll call everyone in for dinner." Hermione said and Draco nodded. Draco took a step back from the table and turned to the doorway as Hermione walked through it, calling out to everyone in the next room. Within a few minutes the red and black haired clan filed in through the door and took seats around the long table. Hermione and Ron sat beside one another, and Draco quickly took the seat between Hermione and Molly, trying hard not to watch Harry and Ginny as they sat across from him.

"Scorpius, stop it!" Rose's voice called out as she laughed loudly from the next room.

"I didn't do it!"

"I watched you." Rose laughed as the two came through the swinging doorway, Scorpius' arm wrapped around her shoulders, her hand resting on his chest. Draco couldn't help but smile at how happy his son appeared with Rose, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron smiling at the couple as well.

"Whatever, Rose." Scorpius told her as he rolled his eyes and took one of the two remaining seats. Draco waited a moment before he started to reach out to serve himself, allowing Molly to do so first. He watched as all the children towards the other end of the table laughed and fought over the serving silverware, before they finally worked it out themselves.

He'd always imagined the Weasley families having a litter of children, but he never knew he would envy them for it years and years later. His thoughts quickly subsided, however, when he saw Scorpius and Rose laughing as they, too, fought with Albus, a boy who looked all too much like his father. Though Scorpius had grown up without a big loving family, Draco was happy that he'd made a place for himself in another.

"Rose?" Hermione called out and the table slowly started to quiet as all eyes turned to Hermione.

"Mum?" Rose responded as she and Scorpius turned away from her cousins to watch Hermione.

"We wanted to surprise you." Hermione started with a smile on her face. "Your father and I set some money aside years ago for you to use on anything you wanted. It's not much, but if you'd like we can use it for the wedding."

"Oh Mum," Rose laughed as she rose from her seat and walked towards Hermione and Ron. She wrapped an arm around each of them before she put kisses on their cheeks. "I don't want to use your money. Besides, we want a small wedding. Just family."

"That's hardly a small wedding." Ginny commented from the other side of the table. Draco had wanted to laugh at the comment, knowing it was all too true, but just smiled as he looked at the woman who was to become his daughter-in-law. "And you still need a venue, Rose."

"Well, we haven't thought about it yet." Rose answered as she stood up straight, her hands still resting on her parent's shoulders. "We haven't really thought about anything."

"We should have it at the Manor."Scorpius put in as he turned to stare down at the other side of the table. Rose turned to him, her eyes narrowed it thought as she considered his suggestion. "It's big enough for everybody."

"Yeah," Draco agreed. "The courtyard is beautiful. That's where I got married."

"Is that supposed to be a good omen?" Hermione question as she turned to Draco, laughing softly.

"Laugh at the expense of my marriage, won't you please." Draco replied and Hermione couldn't help but laugh more as Draco turned away from her smiling, holding back his own laughter at the irony Hermione had pointed out.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked as she looked down at Draco. "We wouldn't want to impose."

"Of course, it's fine. You might as well use it while it's still mine. Give Astoria another year she might take that too."

"She can't be that bad, Drake." Ginny commented and Draco turned to face her, for the second time that night, but his look was different. She had used that name, and it seemed she realized it too late.

"You've never been married to her."

"Maybe it was you." Ginny replied and Hermione cleared her throat as she looked up at Rose once more, doing her best to ignore the tension that Draco and Ginny were quickly creating around them. Harry's heavy stare was not helping the matter either.

"Marriage is not one person." Draco answered. "It's two, and when one person is medically insane, it's often just them."

"So it was you."

"Rose, would you like to have the wedding at Malfoy Manor?" Hermione asked loudly, willing Draco to break his gaze on Ginny. Though Hermione tried to peer up at her daughter, she couldn't turn away from Draco, and out of the corner of her eye she watched Scorpius eyeing Ginny and Draco with narrowed quizzical eyes.

"You lied to me." Scorpius spoke, his voice not as heavy and angry as Draco's had been when speaking to Ginny, but not light hearted either. Hermione sighed in relief when Draco turned to his son immediately, leaving Ginny to stare at the side of his face.

"What are you talking about, Scorpius?" Draco asked.

"You were together."

"Scorpius." Hermione stood up as she moved to the young man. "Why don't you and Rose go out to the lake?" She suggested as she ignored the soft chatter he had ignited between the children. Hermione also noted the stares Draco was receiving from Harry and Ginny's children, none of which he appreciated, but he hardly paid any attention as he watched Scorpius leave the room with Rose at his side.

Through the glass doors, Draco continued to watch them as they walked away from the house. He'd been so engrossed with his son, that he hardly noticed when Hermione also sent away the rest of the children, leaving on herself, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Molly seated at the table with Draco.

"He's smart." Ron commented as he took another bite of food.

"Did you expect otherwise?" Draco answered, finally turning back to the table.

"Does he take after his mother?" Ron asked turning to Draco.

"No, he's very well reasoned, if you haven't noticed." Draco answered sharply but everyone in the room was glad it was Ron's turn to argue with Draco rather than Ginny.

"Maybe that's just cause he's a Gryffindor." Ron commented. "Gryffindors make far more sense than Slytherins." Draco rolled his eyes at the comment but chose not the respond. Instead he took a sip of his drink, one eye watching Ginny as she stared at Draco, willing her eyes to turn away. Draco noticed she was halfway ready to stand and excuse herself, but the door leading to the back of the house had opened and Ginny froze at the sound.

"I don't understand." Scorpius said with a heavy sigh. Draco didn't bother turning back to him, but it hardly mattered because Scorpius moved to the head of the table and stood behind the chair, his hands resting on the back of it. He stared down the table, his eyes moving from Ron to Ginny, then to Draco and finally resting on Harry. Before he started speaking, Hermione helped Molly into the next room leaving them alone in the dining room.

"What is it that you'd like to know?" Draco asked as he peered up at his son.

"The picture."

"Which picture?"

"Of you in the Order Headquarters." Scorpius answered as though it was the most obvious answer. He scoffed as he shook his head then forced his eyes on his father once more. "If you were a Death Eater-"

"I was not a Death Eater." Draco stopped him midsentence to clear his name. "I was never a Death Eater, Scorpius."

"But Mum-"

"Your mother is a pathological liar." Draco responded."And a thief, but that's a whole other matter."

"Then tell me the truth." Scorpius responded. "If you weren't one of them, then everything they ever told me is a lie."

"Well, yes." Draco answered. "That basically sums it up, Scorpius. Your grandfather and your mother were liars. They lied a lot when you were growing up."

"Then why did you never tell me the truth?" Scorpius demanded and Draco sighed.

"I didn't want you to think they were liars." Draco answered. "I wanted you to have a mother and a family that cared about you."

"God, you just don't get it." Scorpius groaned. "Do you just not see that I lived in two completely different worlds?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Hogwarts, and home. I went to school and I was surrounded by my classmates where everything was easy and laid back and nobody cared if you were pureblood or half blood or whatever. It never mattered, and then I come home and it's all different. Everything was different and you were the only one who remotely seemed to fit in both worlds and now you've lied to me too."

"I didn't know it was that hard for you, Scorpius."

"Well it was." He answered. "It sucked. It was horrible being completely in love with some girl I thought my whole family would disown me for wanting to be with."

"I would never do that to you." Draco answered calmly, doing his best to ignore the audience he and his son had.

"Then tell me the truth about everything."

"I stayed at Order Headquarters for a few months during the war." Draco answered. "I wasn't in the Order, but I lived there with Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. We moved around together. We weren't really anything. The Order nicknamed us the Calvary, because we helped Harry at the end of the battle. We protected him all the way up until Voldermort showed up. That was when Ron took Hermione and they left, and I took Ginny to protect her."

"You were together, weren't you?"

"How did you know that?" Draco asked.

"She called you Drake." Scorpius answered. For a moment silence fell around them, and Draco couldn't help but noticed Ginny's stares directed at him and at his son. "Mum called you that when I was little. Did you love her at all, then?"

"Yes." Draco answered truthfully. "For a bit."

"Why did you marry her then?" Scorpius asked.

"Your grandfather threatened Ginny. Said that if we were together then he would try and do whatever it was that he wanted to do. So, we broke up, and I dated your mother, or rather he forced me to date your mother. We were still together, though, for about six months, but I hated that she had hide it and that all we had were stolen moments as though she were something to be ashamed of." Draco explained and watched as Scorpius understood the feeling all too well. Draco couldn't help the pain in his chest that his son experienced the feeling despite Draco's wishes.

"And?"

"And we broke up." Draco answered. "She married Potter and I married your mother."

"Then it wasn't that you didn't love each other, or that it didn't work. It was just… you had to stop."

"Yeah." Draco answered with a nod. "And that's it, Scorpius. That's the entire truth."

"That's why you weren't mad when I was sorted into Gryffindor."

Draco laughed as he looked around, his eyes settling on Ginny for a moment longer than anyone else. "Well, it seems Gryffindors do a lot better than Slytherins in the end." Silence fell around them once more as Scorpius still stared at his father. Finally Draco sighed as he rose to his feet. "I just want you to be happy, Scorpius. If you love that girl. Really, really love that girl, then that's all I need to be happy for you. I don't want you to have the life I had. It's not worth it in the end when you realize that everything you ever wanted is gone. It's a horrible feeling when you know that the only person you ever wanted isn't the one next to you, and it's damn hard to live with. It doesn't matter if she's a Gryffindor, or a half-blood, or any other stupid reason you might've come up with. As long as you love her, then that's all that matters."

"Thank you." Scorpius said softly as he walked around the table, reaching out for his father, who pulled the young boy into his loving embrace.

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